Zak Hardaker's England World Cup omission confirmed by assistant coach Denis Betts
Monday 9 October 2017 09:51, UK
England will be without Castleford full-back Zak Hardaker for their World Cup campaign after assistant coach Denis Betts confirmed his omission from the 24-man squad.
Hardaker was dropped by Tigers for Saturday's 24-6 Grand Final defeat to his former club Leeds Rhinos for what the club described as a breach of club rules.
Cas have not released any further details as to the nature of Hardaker's indiscretion, although it is serious enough for him to be ruled out of the World Cup, where England face hosts Australia in the opening group game in Melbourne on October 27.
"He's been the form full-back in the competition," Betts told the BBC. "He was pivotal to how Castleford have played this year.
"He's a fantastic rugby league player and he would have been fantastic for us."
St Helens full-back Jonny Lomax could be the man to come in for Hardaker, having lost the No 1 jersey to him, although Lomax played stand-off for Saints in the last month of the Super League campaign following the arrival of Australian Ben Barba.
Lomax was one of England's best performers in the 2016 Four Nations Series but missed the mid-season Test against Samoa in Sydney through injury, when head coach Wayne Bennett selected Warrington utility player Stefan Ratchford at full-back, while Hardaker played centre.
Wigan's Sam Tomkins could earn a recall, despite being dropped from the elite training squad as he struggled with injury at the start of the year, although Warriors' failure to make the play-off semi-finals denied him a further opportunity to impress.
Lomax's Saints team-mate, hooker James Roby, is set for a recall after a two-year absence and Warrington second rower Ben Currie, who played for Ireland in the last World Cup but could switch allegiance to represent England instead, is also in contention.
